Frank Seravalli

Daily News Staff Writer

Sergei Bobrovsky will return to the crease tonight, making his 12th straight start, as the Flyers take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Wells Fargo Center.

Surprised?

The Flyers are 9-1-1 in the 22-year-old rookie’s last 11 starts.

It may a surprise for some, but in reality, the statistics have always shown that Peter Laviolette leans towards sticking with the hot hand in net, as noted in today’s Daily News.

Others thought that Laviolette might turn to veteran backup Brian Boucher, who has not started since Oct. 25, to give Bobrovsky a breather after the Flyers lost in regulation on Tuesday in Montreal for the first time in 10 games.

Instead, Boucher will be on the bench for the 12th straight game.

"No decisions are ever taken lightly," Laviolette said. "Since he's gotten here, Bob's numbers have been terrific. They're some of the best in the NHL. We're coming off of a day off. He's a young kid. He's in shape. I'm not real concerned about it."

Bobrovsky is 5th in the NHL in save percentage (.932), 6th in the NHL in goals against-average (2.07), and tied for 2nd in the NHL in wins (11).

When another reporter asked Laviolette about Bobrovsky telling a Russian-language news outlet that he was tired after Tuesday night's loss in Montreal, Laviolette wasn't surprised.

"I'm sure sure he was tired," Laviolette said. "We traveled through the night. We played back-to-back games. We played hard. We had a day off yesterday, we gave them the rest that they needed in order to recover. We move forward today."